Cadence Weapon

Edmonton hiphop playa Rollie Pemberton started laying down the groundwork for the debut of his rapping/beatmaking alter ego Cadence Weapon years ago by reviewing hiphop discs that other writers wouldn't touch (i.e., non-Kanye) for taste-making webzines like Pitchfork and Stylus. Naturally, when the Cadence Weapon Is The Black Hand mixtape appeared earlier this year, it was those same influential sites heaping praise on the rising star who seemed to come out of nowhere. Suddenly, Cadence Weapon was remixing Lady Sovereign and DFA1979 tracks and parlaying the attention into a record deal with Upper Class, who dropped the Beastie Boys, Gwen Stefani and MIA joints from the mixtape and put out his songs as Breaking Kayfabe. Sweet. Though Cadence Weapon's being hyped as the Canuck Dizzee Rascal, it's more that he and Dizzee share a taste for quirky beats and snaky synth lines shaped by overexposure to Houston hiphop. In fact, Cadence Weapon's flow owes more to the Rhymesayers school, with notable nods to Sage Francis, Murs and Doom. Hardcore headz may be puzzled, but Prefuse 73 fans will have a new name to scrawl on their backpacks.